MAKANAH FIRED UP FOR BEVERLEY BULLET

Julie Camacho will this Thursday try to win the William Hill Beverley Bullet for a second consecutive year when Makanah goes for gold in the £30,000 Listed sprint.

The North Yorkshire trainer claimed the five-furlong dash 12 months ago with the 111-rated Judicial.

But Camacho has this year declared the progressive Makanah, who was just denied in a strong handicap at Haydock on his most recent outing on August 3.

Steve Brown, the Norton handler’s husband and assistant, said: “He’s a grand horse and we’ve been very pleased with him this season.

“He’s a progressive sprinter, but we got to the point with him in handicaps where he was carrying top weight all the time.

“With that in mind, we thought it was now the right time to dip our toe into a Listed race with him and the Bullet looked ideal.

“We were happy with him at Haydock and he came out of the race really well.

“He’s won before with cut in the ground, so the recent rain we’ve had won’t bother him one bit.

“He’s also won before over six furlongs when he was a younger horse so you’d expect him to handle the track.

“We always thought he’d be the one who could push Judicial on a bit. I’m not saying he’s as good as him at this stage of his career, but he’s got a similar sort of profile.

“It’s going to be a fascinating race and it will be really interesting to see how he gets on.

“We’re very much looking forward to it.”

Judicial had featured amongst the Beverley Bullet confirmations, but Brown added: “Once the rain came, that made up our minds not to run him.

“He’ll probably go to the Garrowby Stakes at York a week on Sunday.”

Makanah takes on nine rivals in the Beverley Bullet, including Group One-winning sprinter Alpha Delphini.

Bred and owned by Beverley resident Marie Matthews, Bryan Smart’s inmate claimed the Bullet in 2016.

Course-and-distance winners Tarboosh and Caspian Prince also line up, while Kevin Ryan is double-handed with Major Jumbo and Last Emperor.

Michael Dods also fires two shots at the Bullet with Dakota Gold and Queens Gift, with Fool For You and Keep Busy having been declared by Richard Fahey and John Quinn respectively.

Beverley’s nine-race card begins at 1pm and also features the class two William Hill Silver Cup Handicap, which is worth £15,000 in prize-money.